Binding-post.



L. STEINBERGER.

BINDING POST.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18.1913. RENEWED AUG. 15.1916.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

E HAW $23M}?? ra/A LOUISSIEINBEBGEB. F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BINDING-POST.

opecificatioirof Letters Patent.

Application filed July 18, 1913, Serial No. 779,701. Renewed August 15, 1916. Serial No. 115.117.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis Srnrxnsncnn, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments inBindingPosts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a novel construction of binding posts particularly adapted for effecting a quick. and substantially perfect contact with a conductor terminal.

I seek among other things, to provide a binding post which is simple and compact in construction, which may be manufac- .tured at low cost, and which is capable of withstanding a considerable degree of maltreatment, and to which the conductor terface. of the fictile material, this portion he-' ing thus protected against likelihood of injury. II. To provide a tubular member, and to provide within the tubular member a detachable mechanism comprising a clamp bodily detachable and adapted to serve as the immediate means for attaching a conductor terminal. 111. To provide a detachable closure for the upper end of the tubular member referredto having asubstam tially' central aperture extending longitu-- dinally of the tubular member, to provide a stem having a head formed upon its outer end, thestem projecting through the aperture of the closure, and to provide means beneath the closure mounted upon the inner end of the stem for yieldingly maintaininggthe head in contact with the closure, whereby to form a bodily detachable spring clamp between the head and the closure, and

to adapt the opposing faces of the spring clamp thus formed so as to facilitate the correct positioning of a conductor terminal between said opposing faces. 'IV. To form mm. m? th rmnosihg faces of the spring clamp into a semi-spherically convexed surface, to form theother of the opposing faces of the spring clamp into a correspondingly semi-spherically concaved surface, to provide aconductor terminal with a. semi spherical depression adapted to be engaged ductor terminal adapted to be clamped in such clamp, and to shape the clamping faces of the clamp and the faces of the conductor terminal in such manner'as to cooperate to effect a substantially .perfect setting of the conductor, terminal between the clamping faces of the clamp without especial care on the part of'the operator.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific than those referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations. arrangementsofparts and applications of principles, constituting the invention; and the scope of the protection contemplated will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as a part of this specification, and in which I have shown. amerely preferred form of embodiment of the invention Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an arbitrarily chosen structure, a portion thereof being illustrated in vertical section, and a binding post constructed in accordance with the-provisions of this invention being illustrated in connection therewith; Fig. 2 1s. a view in perspective of the several ele- Patented Nov. 28,1916. 1

by the semi-spherically convexed portion ments entering into the construction ofthe' binding post illustrated in Fig.1, the ele- 'ments being illustrated in disassembled relation; Figs. 3 and iillustrate respectively plan and side elevational views of a conductor terminal adapted for use in connection with the binding post illustrated; and Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views illustrating a'featureof the operation of the structure disclosed in the other figures.

This invention is a divisional application BEST AVAILABLE COP of my co-pending application, Serial No. 721,692, and the structure shown herein is incidental, in a way, an improvement over a binding post structure illustrated in connection with my co-pending application Serial No. (398,008.

In my co-pcnding application, Serial No. (398,008, I have illustrated the same construction as that shown herein, except in so far as the formation of the opposing faces of the clamp and immediately associated parts is concerned. y

In the co-pending application, No. (398,008, the opposing faces of the clamp are shown both to be convexed. to be a decided advantage over any structure of which I am aware, but -I have ascertained that by making theopposing, faces of the clamp one convex and the other concave, the advantages sought to be" gained in the structure of the pending application are more pronounced. A single. convex surface working in conjunction with the concave surface of the conductor terminal efi'ccts a desirably perfect setting of the conductor terminal irrespective of the form of the other face of the clamp. With both faces of the clamp convex, the conductor terminal is reversible, but to form the second fate of the clamp with a concavity to correspond with the convexity of the first face, while it destroys the reversibility of the conductor terminal, it more easily and ac curatcly ell'ccts the movement of the conductor terminal into a final and correct set.

I have also found it desirable to provide a surface portion surrounding the immediate clamping faces of the binding post, inclined relatively to said clamping faces, cooperating with a relatively similarly inclincd portion of one of the clamping members, so as to form a sort of open mouth at all circumferential points into which the conductor terminal may be readily and con veniently ttrust.

The structure illustrated in the drawings may be described in detai for a better understanding of the features of this invention. as follows The reference 1 represents the base member of a spark plug having a threaded portion 2 for facilitating attachment of an engine or the like. An insulator portion '3 attached thereto is formed with a concavity 4 in its upper end and a casing 5 is fitted into said concavity and held by suitable ineans, such as a bolt (3. The upper end of the casing 5 is preferably internally threaded and fitted with-a closure 1 having a head portion 8 extending radially beyond the casing, across the upper surface of the member 3, and having a down turned portion 9 engaging the outer annular-edge of the member 3. The central portion of the. upper surface of the head 7 is dished out This has been found into a semi-spherically shaped concavity 10,

the remaining portion of the upper surface of thehead 7 being inclined outwardly and I I downwardly from the portion 10, as at 11, concentrically with the portion 10. An aperture 12 extendsaxially through the 010- sure 7, opening centrallyof the dish shaped portion 10, and a rod or' stem 13 extends through the aperture having-aheadl'l at a its upper end. The under surface o'f'the head His semi-spherically convexed, as at 15, with a convexity corresponding substantially to the concavity of the dish shaped portion 10. The lower portion of the rod i 13 is fitted with a detachable head: 16 for retaining-a coil spring 17 interposed there-- sure 7, adapted for drawing the head 14 toward the dished surface 10. v

The tension of the 'springil'f may be "between and the under surface of the clo-' readily adjusted by movement of the head a 16 along the rodltl, as will be understood,

and the clamp formed by the relation between the upper surface of the closure 7 and the i'inde'r surface of the head H is adapted to efl'ectually retain the conductor terminal when said terminal is introduced into said clamp. I a

The conductor terminal em loyed in' 'com nection with this device is $11 tantiallythe same as a) shape as thatedisclosed in connection with my co-pending "applications above referred to, and comprises a portion 18 electrically connected to the conductor 19, anda relatively thin fiat-plate 20 ailtending therefrom, and havin a slot 21 formed therein. Adjacent'the inner-tend of the slot 21, the material of, the plate 20 is dish-shaped, as at Said dished portion 22 beingsuhstantially concentric with the inner end portion of the slot 21. I

The material ot'awhich the conductor terminalis formed is preferably relatively thin and the dished portion '22 is formed therein by pressing the lnaterial'ini a die, so that the surface of the plate 20, opposite thedished surface 22, will be pressed outwardly, as at 23. y

The portions 22-23 of the terminal are formed so as to provide a concavo-convex portion upon the plate :20, the concaved surface being shaped to correspond with the spherically convexed under surface of the head llof thebinding'post. andthe convexed surface of the terminal bciug shbstantially parallel with the concavc'd' surface thereof. a 1 v ltis thus apparent that upon intrmlucing a the conductor terminal between the opposing faces of the clamp illustrated, it w llnot be newssary for the operator to exercise espe e earein forcing theterminaltoa posi-v tively defined final position, All that is re quired, is for the terminal to be introduced just sufficiently far for thescmrspherirally tion of the tc animal, whereupon the yield-.

convexed surface of the head 14 to engage a portion of the semisphericall y dished 'poring pressure of the clamp, assisted by the cooperative effect of the dished portion 10 of the other clamp surface, will naturally induce the terminal to move, with a cam, or wedge-like action, into a substantially perfect set between the jaws of the clamp.

In introducing the terminal, the terminal should preferably beheld in the position substantially as indicated by dotted lines in' Fig. 1, the nose 23 thereof being thrust along the surface 11 of the closure 7 and against the under surface of the head 14:.

' The nose 23 is preferably tapered, as shown,

to facilitate this action. With the terminal in the position indicated by dotted lines, in Fig.1, it is obvious that the normal weight of the terminal, and especially of the conductor 1-9, to which it is attached, will tend to press the terminal downwardly into the a position shown in full lines.

This movement of the terminal will take place almost without any care on the part of an operator.

It should be'also noted that if an operator should force the terminal under the head 14, while the terminal is in a substantially horizontal position, the head would rise against the tension of the spring 17 and immediately the operator removed his hand from the terminal, the spring action, supposing the terminal. not to have been pushed home, will cause the terminal. to bound upwardly toward the position shown in dotted lines, w ereupon the action heretofore described will immediately ensue. In case the weight of the terminal and theconductor isso great as to prevent movement to the position 'shown in dotted lines, then the parts will stand in the position shown in Fig. 5,

wherein it is apparent that the engagement of the portion24l of the terminal with a relatively inclined portion of the surface 15, and the engagement of a portion, as 25, of

the other clamp face with a relatively in-- position, even without the cooperation be-f Likewise it is tween the parts 23 and 25. apparent that the action between the parts 23 and 25 is suiiicient of itself to move the conductor terminal to final position without cooperative wedge action between the parts l1; and 24. One member of the clamp mlght tl .r'iflfOlQ be substantially flat or even convexed, as, shown in my co-pending applica- L. tion No. 698,008, so long as wedge action is provided between the terminal and the other clamp member. To provide a wedge action 5 for this purpose.

between both of the clamp members obviates the friction present in my former application and more than-doubles the effectiveness of the wedge action tending to move the terminal to its Seat.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated diagrammatically a structure wherein the cooperating surfaces of the clamp and conductor terminal are frusto-conic'al, as distinguished from the semi-spherically curved surfaces shown in the other figures. In this structure the cam action, though of substantially the same character as in the semi-spehrical structure, is of maximum efficiency from the beginning. "In the semhspherical structure the cam action begins gradually and increases as the terminal moves inwardly.

I am aware that it has been heretofore suggested in the art to provide clamping members between which a conductor terminal may be engaged in somewhat the same general manner as I have disclosed in my present, and in my pending applications, but within my knowledge such constructionshave necessarily required the manual movement; of the terminal into a substantially single position relatively to the clamping members ere the connection between the clamp has been of its maximum eificiency, either electi ioally or mechanically. By arranging the clamping surfaces of my binding post in the manner illustrated,'and providing cooperatively formed surfaces upon the conductor terminal, as illustrated, I have materially simplified the construction and have entirely avoided the necessity for careful adjustment on the part of an operator. The parts cooperate in such manner as to effect a substantially perfect setting of the conductor terminal between the clamp faces. The element of human carelessness may be disregarded.

While I have illustrated my binding post in connection with a spark plug, it is, however, obvious that the same is adaptable for use in any other desired connection. The portion 7 of my structure may be regarded as a fixed element, and the portion 14: as a movable element or vice versa, and likewise the position of the concaved and convexed -surfaces of the clamp may be reversed so that the coiicaved surface would appear on the portion 14, and a converted surface on the portion 7.

The manner of connecting my binding post to a support may likewise be altered within the scope of this invention, and does notdepend upon the presence of the casing The fixed member of the clamp may he supported in any manner desired.

As many changes could be made in this, construction without departing from the scope of the following claim, it is intended that all matter contained in the above scription or shown in the accompanyingti drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. c

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to-seeure by Letters Patent, is:- a i The combination with a conductor terminal formed of a sheet of material having a part thereof pressed to form a convened surface portion at one side of the conductor terminal and a CODCU'd surface portion at the other side thereof, of a binding post having a concavity therein to receive the convexed portion of the conductionterminal, said binding post having a clamping member adjacent the concavity thereof convexed to he reCei ed W-ithin said concavity, and means for y1e1d n'giyi pressing said clamping-member into said concavity com,

prising a rod. extending from the center of the co ncaved'portion of the binding post into engagement with said clamping member, and a spring engaging saidvrod to urge said rodin a direction to move the clamping member toward said eoncaved portion.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. LOUIS STEINBERGER.

Vitnesses LEO M. Ers mnnno, L. Gnssronn HANDY, 

